Single Source Procurement: Electronic Plan of Correction (EPOC) System

The NYS Department of Health, Office of Primary Care and Health Systems Management (OPCHSM) has received approval for a Contract Reporter Exemption Request to extend the Alpine Technology Group, Inc. (ATG) contract C028237 which supports the operation and maintenance of the Electronic Plan of Correction and Statement of Deficiency (EPOC/SOD) software for the NYS Long Term Care Surveillance Programs. Under the current contract, ATG developed and integrated this software system with the Department's Health Commerce System (HCS) so that NYS Health Care Providers may transfer data in a secure environment. ATG will continue to provide maintenance, support and in-depth system documentation while program staff develop a competitive RFP to further expand EPOC to the Hospital Surveillance Program, Hospital Clinics and Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD), as well as allow for the software to be rewritten in java per NYS ITS requirements.

The Office of Primary Care and Health Systems Management regulates health care providers within New York State. This activity includes inspections and investigations which may result in findings of deficiency in the provision of care or noncompliance with conditions of participation in Medicaid and Medicare. Providers are formally notified of such findings and must respond through the Statement of Deficiency (SOD) – Plan of Correction (POC) process. This process has historically been carried out by the exchange of paper documents via the U.S. Postal Service mail.

The Electronic Plan of Correction (EPOC) system provides an application that supports electronic communication of SODs and POCs between certain regulated facilities. These facilities include Acute Care Facilities (hospitals, hospital extension clinics and diagnostic and treatment centers (DATCs), Nursing Homes and Adult Homes and the New York State Department of Health (DOH). The EPOC system provides notification of SODs to providers via e-mail and allows electronic access to SODs via the Department's Health Commerce System (HCS). The EPOC system is secure and ensures the confidentiality of health related information. The system provides reports to monitor the timeliness of submission POC information to the Department.

Alpine Technology Group (ATG) implemented the EPOC system software, currently used in both the states of New York and Pennsylvania. ATG adapted the PA software specifically to NYS program requirements and business specifications. The EPOC software has been integrated into the DOH Health Commerce System infrastructure which is used for all secure exchange of information with providers across Department programs. ATG also is the vendor that developed the Federal Certification and Surveillance system in ASPEN (Automated Survey Processing Environment) in use in all fifty states. The vendor has integrated the EPOC system into the ASPEN system and NYSDOH Health Commerce System to support the overall surveillance process and improve the efficiency of CS/CI activities and Federal reporting requirements.

ATG developed and tested the EPOC system, which is integrated with the federal ASPEN software within the DOH HCS infrastructure. The EPOC software has been implemented for nursing homes, adult day health care programs, ICF/IIDs and transitional care units. The Nursing Home program continues to require further maintenance and programming support with the newly implemented EPOC software. Due to the complexity and nuances of the data model, it is realistic to estimate a skilled System Analyst would require months to gain enough knowledge of ASPEN and EPOC applications to be productive. It would also require extensive mentoring of the vendor by DOH staff during the learning phase. This is simply not feasible as DOH staff resources are not available and the delay and increased cost would then threaten project success.